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Yellow Jackets!

Started by DWM II, September 19, 2008, 04:01:44 PM

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DWM II

Who has experience KILLING these DanG suckers? I have been stung a dozen times in the last two weeks and keep coming across new nests in the ground. I have googled and saw some info on pouring gas or diesel down the hole at night, but have been hesitant to do it due to trees that the nest are next to, two really nice willow oaks and a magnolia. From what I have read the fumes is what kills, and I have considered using soapy water but that requires contact with the bug I believe.

I have had enough and I have killing on my mind!

Donnie
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Texas Ranger

Wasps, hornets, bees, etc, are very susseptable to insecticides.  A good mix of insecticide, soap and water dumped down the hole works wonders.  Gas works very well, particularly if you through a match down the hole after wards. Doesn't take much gas, and should not harm your trees, I never figure out if it was the flash, or the bang, that got the little devils. A quarter of a cup works.  Let it set to evaporate a little before detonation.  You want a long pole.

(This post is in line with the one I posted using propane to kill moles, try at your own risk, but it sure is fun)

Another little stunt I like is to skin a small fish, hang it over a large mouth buck half full of water, the yellow jackets eat to much, fall in the bucket, and drown.

Have you figured out I have a whole lot of wasted time in my youth?
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

DWM II


Have you figured out I have a whole lot of wasted time in my youth?
[/quote]
Yeah, but to our entertainment and benefit! Thanks TR
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beenthere

Like TR,
I pour a cup of gas in their hole, and toss a match in behind it. Have not lost any trees, and the grass is only scorched.

Tossing in the match may just be for my own enjoyment... ;D ;D ;D

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Don P

We did battle last week with a huge nest of european hornets that got into the wall cavity of one of the outbuildings. It took 4 cans of the raid knock em dead stuff and 2 days of run in, nuke em then run like a girl. If its in the ground or somewhere nonflammable I kinda like taking the tip off a plumbers propane torch so that it throws about a 3' flame. A weed burner works good too. She claims boys are all pyros at heart  ;D.

DWM II

Well, I'm going to war in about an hour and half. Its gonna be the gas, light, ka-boom and giggle method i believe. :o
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Rocky_J

Malathion works great for wasps, yellow jackets, hornets, etc. And it's still available at the retail level (unlike some other good pesticides such as Dursban). You might want a pump up sprayer with decent spraying distance. After dusk or before dawn are your best times to hit the nest, as workers will be out working during daylight hours and you won't get them all. And Malathion has great knockdown power on them, it will take them down right out of mid air and they will be dead before they hit the ground.

Slabs

The dark of night is one of the better times to treat them.  When you find out there's a den in the area, after a wait for them to settle down, stand back in daylight and watch for them going and coming.  You'll be looking for vertical ascents and descents directly into the den entrance. Later at night a small flashlight will reveal a couple of "sentries" in the den opening.  Pour a cup to a pint of your favorite insecticide concoction quickly into the hole and toss a small pail of wet sand over the entrance.  The sand will trap all of them in the den and keep the insecticide vapors in as well.

I've had great results with this method and never a nocturnal sting.

Good luck
Slabs  : Offloader, slab and sawdust Mexican, mill mechanic and electrician, general flunky.  Woodshop, metal woorking shop and electronics shop.

bck

A few months ago I had a  run in with hornets and asked the same thing here, got some good ideas. Ended up using a can of brake cleaner. As soon as the brake cleaner touched them down they went, none made it more then 2" after being sprayed.

DWM II

Well, where there is smoke there's fire. 8) I'll check the holes tomorrow for activity and bustem again if needed.
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olyman

carb cleaner in a spray can--or brake cleaner--either one--instant death!!! but DONT!!! light this off!!!!!!!  :D :D

Don_Papenburg

Why not  ?  will it boom bigger'n' gasoline?  If so then why not ?  ;D
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

ohsoloco

I mentioned to my dad that he has a hornet's nest in the apple tree in his front yard.  He immediately started talking about getting the spray out to zap 'em.  Managed to talk him into leaving it for me.  Already have one hanging in the living room.  This is a small one, but I still want to save it.  Some cold morning I'll have to get out there and put a garbage bag on it, and send it to the chest freezer for a day....

olyman

and remember--the chest freezer may not kill them--as some may still come back to life---blow it full of carb cleaner after freezing it--end of probloem--

DWM II

I claim victory over the two hives I located. One more to go.
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ohsoloco

didn't have a problem with the first hive I froze....this one is much smaller, just a little bigger than a large grapefruit.  Even so I'll do the same with this one as I did the other one...hang it in the shed for a while just to be safe  ;)

rebocardo

Here is what I did.

There have bags meant to kill wasps that you add apple juice to that has something stinky in it. They climb into the funnel at the top of the bag and can't get back out, drop into the juice and die.

I hung two, one on each side of where I thought the nest was going by where I was when stung. They were about 20 feet apart.

Then at night I hung a bug zapper between the two bags just around where I thought the nest was.

I left the bug zapper on 48 hours.

Between the two bags and bug zapper (and the 12 I killed that stung me) it wiped the whole nest out as far as I can tell. I haven't been stung out by my wood pile again. I didn't want to kill the whole nest, but, after getting stung 12 times over 3 days, I wanted my firewood pile back.

> I never figure out if it was the flash, or the bang, that got the little devils.

What happens is all the air is used up and it collapses the tunnels. That is what a bang is in a bomb, all the air either gets used up or pushed out and rushes back in, the bang is a small sonic bomb ... boom so to speak. The air is rushing into only the top part of the tunnel. That is how a military guy explained it to me.

You can accomplish the same thing with alcohol, which I have done, and it is safer.

If you leave a running lawn mower over an open hole in the ground that pretty much wipes them out too. Especially if you do it before dawn.




Raider Bill

I made the same thing using a small yellow funnel, empty water bottle and left over mountain dew. Put a drop on dawn in it for good measure. Wrapped it together with duct tape.
Hung them from the porch.
In 3 days I had to throw the first one out. Full of dead yellow jackets.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Jasperfield

I'm a Professional Surveyor in WNC and we've had lots of experience w/yellow jackets.

And we always win!

When you kill (or excite) the first one, it emits a scent (pherimone) that excites all the rest of 'em instantantly. If at all possible don't kill any unless you're capable of killin' all of em right then.

As for killing; We buy cases of cheap, ether-based starting fluid. The kind that comes in the red & white cans.

It will spray out about 15' and kills without hydraulic contact. If you are overwhelmed, it'll light off like Napalm.

Make sure you don't inhale much of the Ether, expecially if you're standing in a fog of it just before lighting-it-off.

I'm tellin' you...this stuff works. It's all we use. Cheap, effective, and convenient.

It ranks right up there with using Kerosene for cuts & scrapes on one's body.


Raider Bill

Quote from: Jasperfield on September 22, 2008, 11:01:05 PM

As for killing; We buy cases of cheap, ether-based starting fluid. The kind that comes in the red & white cans.

It will spray out about 15' and kills without hydraulic contact. If you are overwhelmed, it'll light off like Napalm.
do you spray it down the hole then light it off or just leave it?
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

DWM II

Well, I thought (without authorization of course) that they were done. They are still flying around the same hole thats been gassed and lit off twice. :o I'm gonna try the ether method next. :-\
Stewardship Counts!

Rocky_J

Go to your local garden center and buy some malathion. Mix it up according to the directions (or a bit stronger) and then soak the next after dusk.

SPIKER

I use a weed burner to get mine, but gas in say a 20 oz pop bottle works just dump in late at night push the bottle down into hole so gas runs out leave the bottle in the hole closes off hole with lid down, gas runs out into hole and fills it with fumes killing every thing, BUT other ones will find the dead nest and fetch the dead ones out for food and or rob the left over nest this may be what you are seeing.  they have one main nest and several satlite nests once the 1st one gets too big they dig a smaller nest so far away from 1st nest and so on.

the weed burner works great doesn't leave anything & the bees know fire is not something to FIGHT so they don't seem to attempt to sting you. (my experience I've wiped out ~10 nests this way not 1 sting so far.)   I fry then for a while day or night then back away in case some come around let burner set low flame, they fly down to smoking nest & then I fry em. I usually wait for 4 or 5 to be flying around the nest opening as it is smoking. they seem to only be looking at their fried buddies and nest hole and don't care about the flame & you...

also a soldering torch with gas on flame off @ hole opening will fill nest with propane killing them same as gas, as it is heavier than air and will sink into the nest...   this works well when you can't get close to a active nest, simply sticks a rubber hose onto end or use a long tube to get close with it onto end of tank...

Brake cleaner works great to knock em down same as either works wonders no need for expensive bee killers..

Mark

I'm looking for help all the shrinks have given up on me :o

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